Monday, July 30, 2012

Old Royal Enfields found nearly new in cluttered storage

Finding an old motorcycle forgotten when nearly new in some barn is the dream of most car and motorcycle collectors. A man in Verona, N.J. explained in a recent ad on eBay how it happened to him.

"An elderly acquaintance of mine once dreamed of owning a Royal Enfield dealership. To this end, he started the process, which required him to purchase five new units from Royal Enfield USA.

"After he did this, he found that the town would not allow him to open this type of business in their quaint little beach-front community, and he wound up putting them into indoor storage and basically forgetting about them as they got buried beneath more and more detritus — he and his wife would be perfect candidates for the TV show 'Hoarders'!

"Anyway, the neighbors recently complained to the municipal zoning officer, who told Sam that he must get the place cleaned up. My family and I came to help. I uncovered a few of these bikes, and I arranged to buy them from him.

"After choosing which two to keep for myself and my son, I am placing the others on eBay."

The pictures with his ads show low mileage 1998 Royal Enfield Bullets in dirty but apparently decent condition. Not exactly like finding a Shelby Cobra or forgotten Brough Superior gathering dust, perhaps, but still a fun day dream for the collector in all of us.